Automobile bumper



Patented June 2, 1925,

MUNlTEDsTA-TE-s VP.Triu'r OFFICE.

FREDERICK E. HUTCHINGS, OF BRDGKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSGNOR TO HUTCI-IINGS 5 MANUFACTURING CO., ING.: OF NEW YQlt-K; N. Y.,A. CORORATION OF NEW YORK.

anfroivronire BUMPER.

appnqationimea Maren e, 19112.' seriaino. 541,444.

INGs, a citizen of the United States; and resident of Brooklyn, in the countyv of Kings and State oi'cNew York7 have invented -cer-V tain new and useful Improvements in Auto-y a specification. Y p, i

.This invention is an` improvement in fen-g ders orbumpers for use oirvehicles, and is ot that general type in'ivhiclrthere isla; transversely extending bumper bar sniff ported by a pairof pivotally mounted arms.

,My improved construction so far as concerne its main features, isV particularlyV adapted for use with that type of automo# bilewhich has the 'front end of the chassis terminatingsubstantially -in the y vertical plane of the front axleythe body bolster be;- ing supported above andspaced from Vsaid axle by a'` transversely extending :semis elliptical spring'. The Fordmay be men! tioned as `the most prominent `example of that type of construction. A The rontknuckles o r forwardly projecting downwardly curved lends of the side membersfof the ranieyand,k the forwardly extending .and

mobilev Bumpers, voi'which the following is` y upwardly curved endsot the pair offsemr,

elliptical vsprings which are connected to said traine ends are common features-of most makes of'automobiles,` and their 'absence from the Ford gives it an .individualityV readily .distinguishing. it `from most other makes. A

One ofrthemain features of my invention. is` to so design the. bumper support that when attached 1t closelyfollows inposifv I tion, design 1 and appearance thefront end portions-of` the 'ramefand springs of most. makes of cars andthus 'renders lthe support lessconspicuousand the distinctive features of the car lessnoticeable. L"

JA furtlierfobject 'of4 y4 inventionislto provide` an improved meansitorwthe attach` ment o'fjthe supporting` arms otfbumpers to cars of any make. l A further object `of'myyinventionisto provide V"means .whereby -the relat'ive .elevations of the two `ends of the'l bumper bar may bereadily adjusted tobring the bar to`substantially .horizontalposition. even though the supportingbars maybe slightly bent` or In the accompanying` drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a construction embodying my invention, portions of the car being broken away.

2 is a side elevation partly in section, and j V i Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional details on the lines 3-3`and 4 4 respectively ofFig. 2.' InV the specific form illustrated there are vprovided a pair o1 supporting,` bars 10 and 11v which may be made as a right and a left, and which are adapted to be secured to the side members of the frame. Each bar in' cludes a substantially flat rear plate. portion 124 adapted to lie alongside ofV and be 'clamped to thev side channel member 13 of the chassis in the rear o1' the front axle 14 and the front transversely extending semielliptical spring` 15. For clampingl this bar portion 12 in position without necessitating the drilling of any holes in the frame, or otherwise altering it, I provide a substantially U-shaped clamp 16 which receives the v lower side o' the channel 13 and the bar 12. 1

The outer upwardly extending larm of this clamp `has a projection lug or stud 17 adapted to extend into or engage with a depression or recess inthe bar 12. so as to prevent relative vertical movement oit the bar and clamp. The other upwardly extending armofrthe Ushaped clampcarries a screw bolt 18 which extends inwardly above the lower flange of the channel so as to engage with theinner surface ot the web of the channel and firmly hold the bar 12 in position between the clamp and they outer surface of the channelweb;V l

-Each. of thebats 10` and 11 has an interf mediate portion 19 which is so. formedas to lie in `an inclined plane beneath the bracket 20 which supports the mud guardv and the i .This bari-.renten erresrnds in, positive,

curvature and generalv appearance to the forwardly extending side members of theV chassis of those cars which have separate longitudinally extending semi-elliptical front springs. Pivotally'connected to each of the two bars 10 and ll are a pair ot' bumper supporting arms 23. Each of these arms has its pivotal'support intermediate of its ends, and presents an upwardly and `t'o'rwardly extending portion 24 and a downwardly and rearwardly extending portion 25. To the front ends of the two arms there is secured any suitable form oi bumper 26. Preferably this is made oi' spring steel stock which will yieldingly resist distortion in ahorizontal direction, and which is substantially rigid vertically. I have shown the bar of triple thickness at its center portion, and provided with rearwardly curved looped ends. I do not wish to belimited to this type or construction of bar.

The downwardly and rearwardly extending portions 25 of the bumper supporting lever arms are curved so as to lie in substantially the same position as to the front ends of the usual semi-elliptical springs. These lever arm portions terminate at substantially the elevation of the upper slide oi' the axle ll, and are each connected to said axle by a coil spring 26. These springs are comparatively stiff so as to norniallyhold the lever arms 23 substantiallyr rigid. is thesprings are in alignment with the rear portion of the lever arms they are comparatively inconspicuous and the support-ing parts 10 and l1 and the rearwardly extending lever arm portions 25 tend toV make the car closely resemble in appearance the'ordinary car with the separate springs at the front which extend forwardly from the axle.

In case of a collision the bumper bar may yield, due to its specific construction and the material of whichA it is made, and the bar may also move rearwardly as indicated in dotted lines in F ig. l2. This rearward movement is resisted by the springs 27. Due to the fact that the main component of the initial movement of the rear ends of the lever arms is downwardly or in a direction at a very considerable angle to the general direction of the springs,-it will be noted that the initial rearward movement of the bumper bar results ina comparatively small elongation of the springs. The fartherthe (lil l bumper supporting bumper bar moves rearwardly the less becomes the vertical component, and the greater becomes the horizontal component of; movement of the rear ends of the lever arms, so that the resistance to' rearward movement of the, bumper bar rapidly increases. c

'I ,have shown the pivotal supports ofthe lever arms in the form of a ybar 28 which connects the front ends lof the bars l and 11 and holdsthem rigid in Vof the springs respect to each other.V This bar 28 gives the construction added rigidit and strength, and in itself forms a sup emental bumper bar which comes into act-ion after the main bumper bar 26 has been moved rearwardly to such an extent that the person or object which has been struck may engage with the bar 28. This bar 28 may if desired be omitted and replaced by a pair of separate pivot bolts.

` Each of the bars and ll adjacent to its front end carries an adjustable in or stop 29 on its under side, and in tie path of movement 'of the lever arms 23. The springs 27 hold the lever arms firmly against the ends of these stops. In case any of the parts become slightly bent or displaced, or if for: any other reason the bumper bar is not at the same elevation at both ends when i at rest, one or both of the pins may be adjusted to permit a swinging movement of one lever arm in respect to the other to bring the. bumper bar to the desired adjustment. j

Althoughv the bars l0 and ll are connected to the frame. above the spring and the lower ends of the arms 23 are connected tov the axle below the spring l5, it will be ap-i parent that there will be no relative movement of the supporting bars and lever arms Vdurlng normal deflect-ion of the spring l5,

as the lever arms are held against the stops 29 and the relative movement of the'axle and bolster is taken up by a swinging movement 21. In some constructions the lever arm portions maybe made very much shorter so as to terminate adjacent to the ends of the stops 29. In such case the springs 2T'instead of being connected to the axle may extend upwardly or upwardl and ,rearwardly and have their upper en s secured within the channel portion 22. In thisk way the springs may be substantially concealed from view. p v

With my improved form of supporting bars it will be noted that rearward or endwise movement of the bars is etl'ectively prevented by the U-boltsv21,. an upward movementcof the rear end portion I2 isprevented by the lug or projection 17, and av downward movement isprevented by the 2screw bolt 18. Thus the parts are rigidlyvandeffect-ively lockedin place without necessitating any .change 0r alteration in theiconstructiono'f the normal parts ofthe car. l

Having thus described'my invention, what I claim as new anddesireto secure by Letters Patent is l. An automobile-bumper adapted for a plication to automobiles having a front bo y bolster and supporting sprin vboth disposed in the vertical" plane of the ront axle, said bumper including 5a pair of bars projecting forwardly from the opposite ends of the bolster and curved downwardly 'at their bumper bar,

front ends, lever armspivoted intermediate of their ends to the front ends of said bars, and each including a downwardlyzand rearwardly extending curved portion and an up i ends of said bars, springs connecting the rear ends of said lever arms to the axle and a bumper bar carried by` the front ends of said lever arms.

3. An automobile bumper including a a pair of lever arms carrying said bar, means for supporting said lever arms intermediate of their ends, and springs connecting the oppposite ends of said levers to the axle of the vehicle.

4L. A bumper. for automobiles of the type in which there are no frame parts projecting forwardly materially beyond the axle and in which the front body bolster is con nected to the axle by a transversely extending semi-elliptical spring in the vertical pla-ne of said axle and bolster, said bumper includin'g a pair of bars rigidly secured to the body and projecting forwardly from the ends of the bolster, levers pivoted intermediate of their ends to the front ends of said bars and movable in parallel vertical planes, a bumper bar carried by the front upper ends of said levers, and sprin'gs portions to the axle and a bumper frame,

connected ,to the lower rear ends of said levers for resisting rearward movement of said bumper bar.

5. A bumper support for automobiles including a bar having a substantially flat rear portion adapted t0 be secured to the side of the frame, an intermediate portion disposed in a slightly inclined position and adapted to be clamped to the'under side of the mud guard supporting bracket, a forwardly extending downwardly curved front portion, and a lever arm pivoted intermediate of its ends to the front end of said bar.

6. An automobile bumper, including a bumper bar, a pair of supporting bars therefor, and means. for securing the rear end portions of said bars to the automobile includingV substantially U-shaped clamps each having a projection upon one arm portion adapted to engage with the supporting bar, and a screw bolt extending through the other arm portion for engagement with the frame.

7. An automobile bumper adapted to be secured to the substantially channel shaped frame member of an automobile, said bumper including an impact portion and a supporting portion in the form of a substantially flat bar adapted to engage with the outer surface of the web portion of the frame, and a U-shaped clamp having upwardly extending terminal portions, one of said portions carrying a screw bolt adapted to engage with the inner surface of the web of said channel, and the other of said portions having a projection adapted for interlocking engagement with said bar.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 3rd day of March, A. D. 1922.

FREDERICK E. HUTCHINGS. 

